Charles Kuffner

Houston

Contributor at Chron

Blogger at Off The Kuff Knowledge is Good

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Controller Hollins has some questions about the budget

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

This hit my inbox on Tuesday evening, so I didn’t see it in time to queue something up for yesterday. Ahead of Wednesday’s City Council vote on the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, City Controller Chris Hollins has released a plainspoken one-page document entitled “Ten Hard Truths about Houston’s Proposed Budget.” The report cuts through political spin and lays out key facts that every Houstonian—and every member of City Council—deserves to consider before casting a vote.
Film incentive bill passes

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

Probably won’t be that big a deal, but we’ll see. The Texas House gave final approval to a bill increasing the amount of money the state spends to attract film and television productions. Senate Bill 22, filed by Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, would allow the comptroller to deposit $500 million into a new Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Fund every two years until 2035.
Waymo “road trip” coming

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

Company’s coming. Houstonians have the opportunity to see driverless vehicles in action. Google’s autonomous-driver sister company, Waymo, announced Tuesday that it’s initiating road trips this summer for testing and exploration in Houston, Orlando and San Antonio. The road trip consists of about 10 vehicles driving around some Houston neighborhoods, including Midtown, Norhill and Greenway, and the Interstate 45, Interstate 10 and Interstate 69 highways.
Texas blog roundup for the week of May 26

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

The weekly Texas Progressive Alliance roundup is always human generated. Off the Kuff is ready for the big redistricting trial to begin. SocraticGadfly says Cactus Ed Abbey would cringe about Texas population growth. Neil at the Houston Democracy Project said Harris County-elected Democratic Judges are doing more to defend themselves against lying attacks. There is still more they & Democratic Party-supporting attorneys could do.
Bill targeting abortion pills appears to be dead

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

Three cheers for the end of session death-by-calendar watch. A major Texas bill that was poised to offer a blueprint for abortion restrictions has likely died in the state legislature. Senate Bill 2880, a top priority for the state’s abortion opponents, would have targeted people who manufacture, distribute, mail or otherwise provide abortion medication in Texas. It would have enabled private citizens to sue people who distributed or provided abortion pills in Texas for a minimum of $100,000.
Fair for Houston makes good on its warning

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

They did warn us. Lawyers for advocacy group Fair for Houston have filed an injunction against Mayor John Whitmire and the Houston City Council after urging the city to comply with a local law to give the city more representation on the region’s transportation board. Houston City Council voted in October to renew its membership on the Houston-Galveston Area Council, a body that’s tasked with distributing federal funds for infrastructure, climate mitigation and workforce development.
The case against rooting for Tesla to fail

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

From Inside Climate News. While some people may be pleased to see Tesla and Musk struggle, and most of the damage was self-inflicted, Tesla’s swoon is probably bad for the U.S. EV market. It helps to have a sense of just how big Tesla is relative to other EV makers that sell in the United States. Last year, 48 percent of the EVs sold here were Teslas and no competitor cracked 10 percent, according to Cox Automotive. Tesla also is a key player in building and maintaining EV charging stations.
So about that Compassionate Use program…

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

Psyche!A plan to expand Texas’ struggling medical marijuana program has been stripped down by a state Senate committee, just days after the House agreed to the upper chamber’s plan to ban all recreational THC.
We need a better class of wingnut billionaire overlords

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

I read this story about the latest dude in politics with more money than sense and I just shake my head. In mid-September, Alex Fairly accepted an invitation to spend the day with one of the state’s richest and most powerful political megadonors. He jumped in his private plane and flew down to meet Tim Dunn, a West Texas oil billionaire, at his political headquarters located outside of Fort Worth.
What’s next for Aurora’s driverless trucks

1 week ago | offthekuff.com | Charles Kuffner

Expansion coming soon. Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation plans to expand on the success of its first driverless commercial launch and add night driving to its operations. Aurora said Thursday that in the second half of 2025, it will start sending its self-driving trucks out at night and during adverse weather conditions like rain or heavy wind.